Do you have friends you can pick up with just where you left off? Friends you can literally go 15 years without seeing and it feels like a week? Because I do. And I love them. I had a most magical day yesterday with my friend Valerie & her twin boys at Valerie’s parent’s place on Sacandaga Lake. It was just Val, her Mom, the boys and I and it was perfect. I had a day where I was just by myself and so i sent her a text out of the blue to see if she might by chance be around as we ALWAYS say we’re “going to meet up one of these days”. And she was in fact around !! She suggested we go to the lake and it was an absolutely perfect day!!

Val was one of my best friends in college and she was a year older than me. When she graduated before me, I was so sad, but I knew she would go on to do great things. Val always knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to be a teacher. She had an older sister and an older brother and she would say, “Lisa would play Doctor, David would fix things like cars or anything with wires and I would teach all my animals & dollies.” And that’s basically how it happened.

Valerie is elementary school teacher and also a fantastic Mom. She is raising two little gentlemen who are so lovely and polite, but also just fun, funny kids. They clearly know they are so loved & kept teasing us all afternoon that we were “chatting like teenage girlfriends”. It was the cutest thing. And we were!! We could have talked for hours, and they knew it. But they knew they had Val’s full attention if it was needed and at the same time, she had a special visit with a friend that day so it was a nice time for them to explore and play together.

Valerie makes you feel like everything you say is the most important thing that’s ever left your mouth. I realized after I left her that I want to do that more. I want to listen more and be more attentive. I want to engage more with my friends and loved ones or even people I don’t know so well. It’s such a gift to give people your full attention and to not constantly be checking your phone or wondering what time it is or who has messaged you or whatever our little quirks or triggers might be. But to really listen to someone and give them that time together is such a gift. That is something I am going to try and do more often. Because things like that matter. It really made an impression on me. It made me realize how wrapped up in myself I can be at times and how much I cherish the moments with these dear friends and loved ones. I hope to have many more times “chatting like teenage girlfriends” in the future with Valerie and I am so glad we had our lake day together yesterday. It was special and I’ll hold it close for a very long time.

#soulsisters #teenagegirlfriends #greatsacandagalake #twinning

As I was sitting at the airport in Montreal, Canada waiting to pick up my best friend Kym so we could start our epic Canadian road trip the other day, I got to thinking of all the things that she & I have shared with each other over the years in the ways of helpful tips, tricks & life-hacks. Kym is the best at finding alternative ways of doing things, & I like to think I’m pretty clever too. So I thought, “Maybe I should write about some of these things for others to learn. Then we can share the wealth & hopefully, others will start sharing their helpful hints & it will catch on like wildfire!!” So here are three of my “helpful tips, tricks & life-hacks” that I thought I’d share this week. I’ll try to do this on a semi-regular basis so that it can become an ongoing recurring segment on here.

THE DOUBLE SHAMPOO:

Start with a small amount of a basic cleansing or clarifying shampoo (I like to use a tea tree clarifying one to start usually if I have one). Just wash your roots letting the suds wash the rest of your hair as you rinse out the shampoo. Then if you really want to switch it up & give your hair some added “oomph” or if you just want to use up some old shampoo you have, use a different kind of shampoo for your second shampoo.

You can use the same shampoo for both washes if you need to, but I think you get best results if you mix up the types, as it just keeps things fresher & your hair from getting to used to the same product every time, so if you use a color shampoo normally or a voluminous shampoo, now is when you might want to use that, (I use a purple shampoo to keep my blonde hair bright).

After you’ve done the first wash of your roots, won’t need much shampoo, (no more than a nickel size amount) so once again, try to focus in at your roots but you’ll notice how the suds will really kick up much more from the initial wash you did & it will be much easier to work up a lather. Wash your ends into the lather & then give it all a good thorough rinse. Condition as normal & repeat at least 1-2 times a week or depending on how often you wash your hair, do this every time you wash it. If you do any deep conditioning treatments or hair masks, I would recommend doing them about once a week (or however often you normally do them), but you’ll notice how much less oily your hair feels & how clean it feels when you do the double shampoo. I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve told about it & they have come back & said it was quite literally life-changing. That may sound dramatic for something as small as a shampoo switch up, but when you try it, you’ll see the difference.

METHOD HAND SOAP:

Method antibacterial hand soap is an amazing product, but not just for washing your hands…it gets out other amazing things besides germs! This stuff is absolutely amazing when it comes to getting blood stains out of clothing. As someone who was on a blood thinner for several years, I would bleed at the drop of a hat when I would cut myself on the tiniest little thing & it would stain a lot of my clothing & sheets. I found Method hand soap is magical when it comes to getting blood stains out of fabrics. Never again ladies, will you have to sacrifice a favorite pair of panties when it’s that time of the month or will you have to recycle a shirt because your kid got a bloody nose on it. This stuff will make it completely DISAPPEAR!! Try & get the Antibacterial Foaming Hand Wash. I find the blue Sea Mineral kind in the clear bottle works the best, but I imagine any kind will probably work just as well. You can get it from Walmart, Target, Amazon & even Lowes.

BABY SHAMPOO:

Baby shampoo as a makeup remover is a helpful hint for sure for those with sensitive eyes. I don’t exactly know why or how it works but baby shampoo is a tried and true hypoallergenic makeup remover proven to work and not irritate eyes. Because it’s so gentle and has so few chemicals in it, it’s recommended for those with sensitive skin and tender eyes. It can get just about any amount of make up off in just a few swipes. You just put some on a cotton ball or Q-tip and swipe it softly over your eyes, or you can gather some up on your hands and rinse your entire face and watch the night come off like zebra stripes across your face.

I first heard about baby shampoo as a makeup remover from my reconstructive surgeon after I had surgery on my eye years ago and was slowly starting to wear eye makeup again. I had a graft made up of foreign tissue in my lower eyelid that wasn’t producing tears like the rest of my eye. The doctor was insistent that I could only wear makeup if I diligently took it off every night before bed and didn’t use chemicals to do so. The graft still had a chance of rejecting itself and he didn’t want any infection from bacteria caused by leaving on old makeup to be the cause for that. Other chemical removers & makeup wipes stung and felt too harsh for my new eye tissue and so I started to use the baby shampoo every night. I still keep a small bottle in my shower and next to my sink in my bathroom at home. The best part is, you can get the small bottles in the travel aisle of the drugstore for really cheap and you don’t need to use very much of it. It’s a great bargain and great for your skin and eyes.

Tune in next time to find out what product treats bug bites, dry, calloused & cracked heels, & rough & bumpy skin all at the same time. Also, if you have any suggestions, tips, tricks or life-hacks you would like to share, feel free to message me either in the comments or at my email: miranda.britt33@gmail.com and I’ll happily share them as this is what “the GOOD STUFF” is all about!!